A few weeks ago, I was looking high and low for a new pair of hiking boots.  I tried the local stores but in this small community, there are very few options and if I were to find something I liked, probably wouldn't have it in my size.  I spent a few days looking from store to store, read a few online articles on recommendations and still wasn't having any luck finding something that I could easily try on.

I then jumped on Amazon, whom I know some will say that they take money out of the local economy but in certain circumstances, this is just about the only option.  After looking around, I found this strange logo pop up on some of the pages, Amazon Prime Wardrobe.  Now, I admit that I look on Amazon.com a lot to read reviews and such on things that I am interested in buying.  I also have several "lists" that I keep going from gifts to books that I would like to read as I come across suggestions from other places or tv.
I proceeded to click on the link to Amazon Prime Wardrobe to see what it was all about.  I figured it was something that had been around for awhile and I just had never seen it advertised.  Boy was I mistaken.  Somehow, I had gotten in on it before i launched just 6 days ago and I am here to tell you that you just may want to check it out.
How it works  Amazon Prime Wardrobe makes many items available for you to try before you buy.  You have 7 days to decide and if you want to keep 1 or all the items, it's entirely up to you.  They give you up to 8 items at a time per order and you can only have 1 Wardrobe order out before you can make another selection.  I found this especially easy to use.  I ordered 2 different brands of hiking boots in various sizes, including wide.  After I tried on each pair and got my hands on them for quality checks, I decided on the pair I wanted to keep.  Inside the box, or in my case boxes, were nicely displayed folders with return labels already printed.  The boxes themselves were specially made to be opened and then resealed without any additional tape.  After repacking the remaining items in the special boxes, it was just a easy trip online to let Amazon know which items I was going to keep and then off to the UPS store to drop off the box and I was done.
I found the experience easy and I am surly to use the service many times to come if needed.  I suggest if you are having trouble finding a certain clothing item or pair of shoes and you don't mind waiting a couple of days for it to arrive to give Amazon Prime Wardrobe a try, you won't be disappointed.

Amazon Prime Wardrobe - Click Here
Merrell Moab 2 Mid Hiking Boots
*** The incorporated links are through Amazon's Affiliate program and does not represent a paid endorsement.  I shared because I cared!

It's been kinda funny to me for some family and friends to call or ask this first week how's it going?  Well, as my wife Melanie keeps telling me, it hasn't hit me yet and probably won't til school starts back.  With that being said, it sure has started out great so far.  After hitting the road for a mini trip to Lake Junaluska, I truly can now envision what the next few months of travel will be like.
This is a beautiful place.  Melanie and other family and friends have been coming up here for years for meetings and conferences but I could never fully imagine what it was until I arrived and have had a few days to explore.
Camping in our camper makes you more aware of nature, yes it's been hot, but cooler than it was at home.  As I write this on Wednesday evening around 6:30, the windows are open and there is a pleasant breeze.  I took a long 3 mile walk around the lake this morning and I can see where some people could be at ease and trouble free by spending time here.  I am displaying several photos below without commentary but hopefully they will tell their own stories.  I am trying to reconnect with nature photography as it has been lost in my world of sports and people photo making in recent years.  Hope you enjoy!

As I close the door to my classroom for the last time there are so many emotions that are overcoming me.  Thinking about how teaching found me, all the many wonderful educators that I have had the privilege to work with and mostly for all the students that have either entered my classroom doors or crossed my path in one way or another.
I have had many classrooms over the years.  I know this isn't rare to many teachers but to me each classroom symbolizes different progressions of my career.  My first classroom was shared.  As I have mentioned before, I started at the NC School for the Deaf, sharing my space with a veteran instructor who was soon to retire.  While there, I also taught a PE class once in the gym, so that counts right?  My main teaching space at NCSD was a three thousand square foot area that included computer area, darkrooms and a full print shop.  It was a dream area to work in and while there I was allowed to rearrange it several times.
From there, I was hired by Burke Co schools to begin teaching at East Burke High.  In the beginning, I was in a cramped, cluttered area that was left behind by a retired teacher that I swear his real name was Fred Sanford.  While in that room, I also taught in other rooms around the building including a room without walls, door or ceiling and a room that had an awful echo.  From there, I was moved into my permanent room where I put up a giant Space Shuttle mural on the wall and it made the space come alive.
I was shared with Patton High a couple 3 semesters and had some of the smallest class spaces that can be imagined.  I called one the cupboard under the stairs.  Once I started at The STEAM Academy, I thought I had gone full circle because I was back on the NCSD campus but was only in Jeter Hall for 2 years and then to Western Piedmont Community college for the final 3.
I know I rambled on about all the classrooms I've had but to me each one has it's own memories.  Each space had students' faces associated with it.  Each one has different colleagues whom I could share a laugh or a few tears with.
I wish I could remember each and every student and staff whom I have come in contact with but the memories are good enough.  It's been fun recalling things that I haven't thought about in ages.  It's still fun running into former students from time to time and that's where the rewards are mostly.
I hope I find something just as rewarding in the near future but I seriously doubt it.  I would never try to replace any of the experiences, good or bad.  I think that over the course of my career, I carry every contact in my heart that makes me who I am and who I am most proud of!
As you can see above, I have a big collection of books and novels that I have been saving for the last few years to keep me busy and my mind entertained.  Where should I start?

As I sit here, reflecting on my career, it occurred to me that tomorrow is my last full day of teaching.  It sure is bitter sweet.  I can remember my first few days in the classroom at the NC School for the Deaf.  I was hired to teach graphic arts and printing where I would eventually take the reins from the main printing teacher, Mr. Harold Brown.  I learned a lot from him about the ways of running a print shop.  He told me that I brought new ideas for new technology to him so we shared skills.  We had our ups and downs.  He was set in his ways and I was the newbie but we over came it all.

I don't miss all those endless days and nights in the lab, working on publications and yearbooks.  It was common to teach all day, take 30 mins at the end of school for food and then work until 11pm plus most nights and even on the weekends.  I was in the shop more than I was ever at home.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed getting to be creative and use my college skills.  It was challenging but as I look back, I miss parts of it.  I still think my body is in a marinade from all the chemicals we used on the printing presses or in the darkrooms.  We published 8 or the 9 yearbooks in house while I was there, all on the presses in the lab.  Tedious work but so worth it when you saw the faces light up on yearbook dedication day.  You see, unlike most school yearbooks today, we kept the entire book a big secret.  No one was allowed to view or share.  It was great and I miss those parts of the job.

Being at NCSD was an experience of a lifetime.  I have many fond memories of students and staff.  We were closer than any faculty than I have been a part of since.  Being a part of a larger school had benefits but so much was lost of staff cohesiveness.

I have many great memories but I won't grading papers or projects or attending meetings and doing paperwork.  It seems like each of those has increased by 200% since I began.  And once you feel like you've gotten a handle of it, they change it up, add more steps and requirements.

That leads me to working at East Burke High teaching Cisco network engineering.  We were tasked early on with wiring the entire campus.  The best part was working side by side with my students as they learned with on the job training.  We spent the better part of a year and half climbing in ceilings and pulling cables through walls.  Sometimes we were wiring classrooms while students were sitting in their desks as we were on ladders above them.  It was great marketing for the program.  When I still walk through the buildings, I look around to see our remaining work.  I don't miss climbing around the ceilings but do feel a sense of pride of all the money we saved the school.

I'm not going to miss the first days of school each semester.  Trying to learn new faces and names.  I know as some read this, they will snicker because you'll remember that I was lucky to remember full names by midterm.  But I will remember all the faces.  I wish I had kept track of all the students I have taught.  I still cross paths with many on occasion and still enjoy stopping to see how they are and what they are doing.  I hope that never ends.

This graphic sums it up pretty closely for me.  I have never been afraid of change but skeptical about it.  I am one who is stuck in my ways.  I have a daily routine that could be scheduled almost to the minute throughout the day.  I eat the same things, watch the same shows, etc.  Change is good and I am looking forward in pushing myself into new beginnings.
My family, most importantly my wife has been very supportive in this process.  She is always one to question my ideas and add to them.  I am very appreciative to her and love her for everything she has done.  The "R" word isn't something that I entertain likely but know that what I am doing isn't truly that.  Yes, teaching found me, I didn't go looking for it.  I am very thankful to have taught a full career.  I didn't train or go to school to become a teacher and if you would have asked me in the 8th grade what I would do when I grew up, I probably would have said a professional camper or a fireman.
Teaching was a blessing in disguise.  I found my way, met many new colleagues that became friends through the years and truly loved being in the classroom with students whom were there mostly to learn and pick my brain for new knowledge.  I wouldn't change a thing.  I have enjoyed every aspect of my teaching career and all the many different subjects taught along the way.  Stay tuned for more reflections as I approach my new beginning.